The encounter with the marauding jetskis is one reason why having a marine radio with you is a must. If you can make immediate contact with enforcement units while something like this is going on, it increases the odds of catching the jetskis. But even if you have not gotten through to anyone, fake it. If the jetskiers had seen you holding a radio to your ear and mouthing out words and nodding your head as if you were talking to the authorities, they would have zoomed away fast. As for the way you were dressed, i.e. not really prepared for cold water immersion in lower 40s degree water temperatures because of warm air temperatures, this is not known as the Deadly Paddling Season for nothing. I have a macabre image about this period. During the winter, the bodies resulting from suicides and other deaths in the NY Harbor area often sink out of sight in the icy waters before they can be recovered. In spring, i.e. about now, when the waters just start to warm up into the 40s, these bodies bloath and float to the surface; they are termed "floaters" by law enforcement officials. So what I see in my macabre image are capsized ill-cold-water-clothed spring paddlers dying of hypothermia with winter's "floaters" popping to the surface all around them. Not a funny thought, but something has to work to convince paddlers it ain't smart to paddle ill-clothed during this season. ralph diaz *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Apr 13 2001 - 10:55:40 PDT
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